Slow Kicks

A/N: Hey, Hey! Thanks for reveiwing my last chapter!

Chapter Four: Sharp Curves

Soundtrack: Criminal- Britney Spears

It's extremely bright, the harsh sun nearly blinding him as he finds himself on a hot bench and children jump rope and play tag in the playground. He sees Ariadne, leaning against the building. She beckons to him with one finger and then climbs the staircase leading into a low, sprawling building, and he can smell the baking brick from here. He stands to follow her, hands jammed into his pockets. He believes in her ability with all of his heart (all though after the things he's done he doubts if he has one) but he's nervous. The children are unnerving him, something sinister in the way they skip on the hot pavement, but he can't place his finger in it. He stares at them as he passes them, but they take no notice of him, counting off the number of jumps out loud.

He practically runs up the staircase.

Ariadne's waiting for him inside, arms crossed and expression almost- almost gaurded, but Arthur takes no notice. His jaw threatens to fall open as he pivots in a small circle, taking it in.

It's all white, but that's not the shocking part. It's all angles and curves, no straight lines, in a delicate and intricate maze. White and confusing, but he can see the flash of something blue down a curvy hallway that suddenly veers to the left.

"This way," Ariadne says, and he sees that she's smiling. She's liked his reaction, but Arthur doesn't see what she'd be insecure about. He's never made something like this. Respect for Ariadne kindles inside of him, and he follows her down the hallway. Her steps make a sharp, crisp, almost clean staccato song as she walks- he suddenly sees that she's in high heels and an almost buisness like suit. Like she wore for the Fischer job- but that was a Vera Wang suit, and he can't even tell for this one.

"Quick, give me a kiss."

He can see the question in her eyes, the question of perception that drew him to her in the first place- but he leans in and she does as well, and then their lips are touching. The brush of skin- cold and clammy, warm and soft, and it tears at his heart. He wants her. He can't have her.

The kiss could've been longer, and he knows it. But he leans away anyway.

Ariadne stops in front of a door numbered 101 and she leads inside, pushing the door open with the slightest pass of her fingers. Arthur vividly remembers that one mistake, the slip up that follows him around, and focuses on the white tiles under his feet.

It's then he sees what's wrong with the children in the playground.

"Fuck," he hisses, and Ariadne spins around, eyebrows raised. "What-" she starts, but never finishes, because Arthur's talking over her, loudly and calmly and almost detatched, in a Point Man voice. It's then she knows something's wrong. Very, very wrong.

"The children outside- they're not projections."

"What are they?"

"Extras. You're about to find out the bad side of Extracting. Lock the door."

She does so, eyes darting about the room. Arthur pulls out a gun- from where Ariadne can't fathom- and leans his shoulder against the door, bracing himself. Then a small rain shower of fists begin to push and shove at the door. Five kids, Arthur can handle. Twenty kids, Arthur can handle. But around forty it gets worrisome, and this is exactly what is happening now. They push and shove at the door, while Arthur grits his teeth.

"Get ready," he spits at Ariadne, and she braces herself, shutting her eyes and exiting reality so quickly that Arthur feels he's left behind. Ariadne's singing to herself, hands over her ears.

Gunshots, so many that they blend together, assualt Ariadne's ears, and the singing doesn't help. She opens her eyes to see Arthur lastly pointing the gun at her.

"You'll wake up," he says (almostwithnoemotionanditscaresher). Then he pulls the trigger, and a flash of something hot striking her just under he collarbone, and then she staring up through murky air at a chipped and high ceiling.

She sees what's wrong- they weren't smiling.

Not one. And they were children...

Hmmmm. She's never thought of a bullet being hot before. It distracts her for a moment before she hears Arthur shift beside her.

It scares her a little- how he can change his face so quickly, from joking to merely serious to Point Man. How over the past week or so they've been playful, almost (for Arthur) and then, in a moment of danger, he's quickly the most most effiecint- Point Man.

He's at her side already, before her brain's registered he's there, and he's gently removing the needle. "Extras?" she whispers, because her voice is hoarse. From the way Eames is staring at her, she has a faint, dim idea that she was screaming while she was under. Arthur is speaking softly, the way you might with a frightened animal.

She can't hear him.

A/N: Sorry for such a short chapter, but I'grounded and this is the best I can do. Review! I love you!